Monthly Archives: February 2013

By Jordan Moore

From the gulf shores of Dubai to the northern regions of Moscow, fashion has found its way to areas outside the four major fashion capitals. Perhaps a fashionista’s eye wouldn’t have fluttered toward these exotic locations years ago, but it might now. Beauty is, after all, in the eye of the beholder, and heads are beginning to turn toward more distant horizons.

One of the most established fashion hot spots set the fashion media afire recently, as it does so every year in February and September.

“Fashion is what designers put out there on the runway,” says Chelsea Bell, designer and adjunct instructor at the University of North Texas.

For Bell, this explains exactly why New York Fashion Week monopolizes the media twice a year.

New York Fashion Week features both the vets and newcomers of the industry. Fashion followers wipe their calendars completely clean for this event, allowing everything to be put on pause while the runway plays out the premiere of the upcoming season’s wardrobe.

This year the event was held at Lincoln Center, making 2013 Fashion Week’s third year out of the Bryant Park Era that Fashion Week was tented under for more than 15 years. Bryant Park’s grass was not the first turf that the industry began treading its heels on, however.

A History

Fashion Week’s foundation was set not on American soil but in French territory. Before World War II, the northeastern U.S. was not the home of a major fashion capital. In fact, America did not revere fashion much at all. If there were any fashion-followers, they looked toward Paris for haute couture. These designs gained attention overseas so much that journalists felt led to witness the works for themselves. In 1943, however, with World War II raging on, these weekend reports were unmanageable. This is the year one journalist decided to bring the fashion showcase back home to the states: A woman by the name of Eleanor Lambert organized the first American fashion event called “Press Week.” This alternative provided those same journalists to still obtain their weekend reports, only from a different location. Thus, Fashion Week found its way into the Concrete Jungle.

Now title-sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, New York Fashion Week has grown to luxurious proportions.

There is proof that luxury goes a long way. From the small shops of Paris to the post-war pop of New York City, people can in fact associate quality with quantity.

 

Dubai

In the Dubai Mall – the largest mall in the world – there is an entire strip called “Fashion Avenue,” dedicated to world-renowned brands like Burberry, McQueen, Prada and Dior, just to name a few. Farah Abdelqader, an SMU junior and former Dubai resident, says that fashion plays a prominent role in her hometown.

“I have lived in Dubai for 15-plus years and trust me, everybody dresses as if they’re about to walk [the] catwalk,” she says.

Although Dubai has not hosted a Dubai Fashion Week since October of 2011, the city’s initial intention had been to rival the fashion weeks of New York, London, Milan and Paris. It is unclear as to if or when there will be another Dubai Fashion Week. However, says Abdelqader, “There is no doubt that the city of Dubai has great interest and potential in the fashion world.”

Dubai serves as one of the locations of ESMOD, an acronym for the first fashion school, which originated in France. Students strive to make a name for themselves in the hopes that their own garments will be featured on the runway one day.

 

Russia           

One SMU student is already living her dream of having her name as a label.

Kira Plastinina, a junior communication studies major, has earned her title as the youngest fashion designer in the world.

Plastinina, who grew up in Russia, shows primarily at Moscow Fashion Week, which is sponsored by Volvo and is one of the two fashion weeks held in Russia. The other, Russia Fashion Week, is sponsored by Mercedes.

Plastinina points out how she believes fashion weeks in Russia differ from those in New York and other fashion capitals:

“In general, Fashion Week has more of a recreational atmosphere and less of a business [or] work environment.”

Whereas in New York, Fashion Week is a scheduled 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. workday, Moscow is scheduled a little differently.

“People come to shows like they’re going to an event after work,” says Plastinina.

The shows in Russia are after-work events rather than at-work events, essentially.

Why is this so? According to Plastinina, most of the designers of Moscow Fashion Week have already shown buyers their collections. 

“A fashion show has less commercial value and is more promotional in its nature,” she says.

Ah, what a luxury then! Slipping out of–well, maybe just into lower heels for a night out at the runway.

 

Texas?

Despite what some may have heard, Dallas may not be a must-go location on Fashion Week’s bucket list.

Although Dallas plays host to fashion events, there is speculation as to whether or not D-Town would ever truly host a Fashion Week at the caliber of the Big Apple.

SMU adjunct professor in Fashion Media, Kevin Willoughby, votes no.  According to Willoughby, “Proximity is everything.”

When it comes to creating those beginning pieces of a collection, specialty stores are essential in the execution of original designs. Materials need to be readily available. In New York, there is of course the Garment District, which is dedicated to providing this array of materials needed for the production of a collection. Mood, the designer fabric store that is well known for its appearances on the show “Project Runway,” is located here.

In regards to the unfulfilled need for proximity to fabrics and supplies, Willoughby says simply, “Dallas just doesn’t have that.”

So, despite the rumors, Dallas may not have the Fashion Week that some might hope for, but there are still fashion events in the area that a runway observer might attend, including SMU Fashion Week this upcoming spring. Then again, who knows what will happen in the future?

 

Where to next?

Although Dallas may not be in the running for the runway of the next Fashion Week, there are plenty of others contenders around the world that may be ready for the limelight.

Willoughby offers something special that makes the location a good fit for fashion.

Looking to the big names first, Willoughby identifies Paris as “high end,” Milan as “fabric-driven,” London as the “oddball” with its “millinery and creative environment,” and New York as “fast market-oriented” with an emphasis on “commercial[ism].”

These are some suggested labels for the fashion capitals, but what about the others around the world?

Willoughby notes that the beaches of Brazil and Australia have inspired the creation of one-of-a-kind swimwear as well as lingerie.

The textiles in Japan, particularly denim, makes Tokyo a possible powerhouse in this area of clothing.

In sum, it’s about identity. What makes a location identifiable? Is it something that will allow others to make themselves identifiable as well?

Fashion is on the move and there’s no telling where Fashion Week will hit next, but it is fun to follow the trends.